Our Story

ARFIE (Association for Research and Training on Integration in Europe) was set up in 1992 as a European NGO to improve the support, the social inclusion and the availability of services to people with disabilities, people with important dependency needs and with associated mental health needs, provision of a quality staff training.

25 years of Existence

ARFIE birth and life represent the EU experience in diversity and integration being a melting pot of different organizations coming from different geopolitical and cultural backgrounds. The past years, ARFIE has pursued with determination that the EU economic integration shall be accompanied by social inclusion and dissemination of know-how practices. ARFIE has promoted self-determination participation and inclusion of people with disabilities and strongly encouraged innovation and research in service provision.

Through more than 25 years of close collaboration between service providers and training and research centers in the disability field, ARFIE has delivered numerous European projects and publications in disability issues all with the aim to disseminate good practices on how the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities could be implemented.

Nevertheless, as an ordinary member of the European Disability Forum, ARFIE has been in close collaboration with organizations and other stakeholders defending the rights of persons with disabilities and promoting inclusion.

ARFIE is not an association of people with disabilities and their families, but an association of service providers and research centers who share the vision that quality training of the staff working with persons with disabilities contribute to the quality of the services provided, increasing the quality of life of the users.